Brahms and Mahler: an Essay on Musical Progressivism
Caleb Marshall
Mr. Shawhan
Rhetoric
February 25, 2012
Classicism and Modernism
Introduction
What is music? The art of self-expression that goes beyond simple speech; the proper blending of sound waves to create optimal wave oscillation; the transcendent joy of collective individualism; the use of the notes c-c’ in structured order to build melody, harmony, counterpoint and tonality—perhaps music is something impossible to completely define and understand. Music manifests itself differently to each and every person, revealing rapturous joy, desperate love or grey death and helping humanity cope with the struggles and joys of life. Yet although no one would argue that music’s main focus is emotion, there is a system of interpretation by which music can be logically realized, quantified and rationalized: such a method is called music theory. Music theory, although still technically an art, could be defined as ‘the science of musical tonality, rhythm and structure.’ Out of these three pillars, however, by-far the most influential and important is tonality. Tonality, according to Mark DeVoto, is, “…the organized relationship of tones with reference to a definite center, the tonic, and generally to a community of pitch classes, called a scale, of which the tonic is the principle tone.” In regards to hearing, tonality is how the ear interprets two or more tones together and is the founding idea behind melody and harmony, dissonance and consonance, tension and resolution. Tonality can further be divided into three sub-categories: polytonality, atonality and pure tonality.
Polytonality is the use of more than one scale system at the same time; in other words, the music is not ‘centered’ on one note. Rather, two or more bases of melody and harmony are established and, normally, seeming mayhem ensues. As you can imagine, polytonal music requires the listener to have an acquired taste.
Atonality, however, is even more chaotic than polytonality. The principle of
Mr. Shawhan
Rhetoric
February 25, 2012
Classicism and Modernism
Introduction
What is music? The art of self-expression that goes beyond simple speech; the proper blending of sound waves to create optimal wave oscillation; the transcendent joy of collective individualism; the use of the notes c-c’ in structured order to build melody, harmony, counterpoint and tonality—perhaps music is something impossible to completely define and understand. Music manifests itself differently to each and every person, revealing rapturous joy, desperate love or grey death and helping humanity cope with the struggles and joys of life. Yet although no one would argue that music’s main focus is emotion, there is a system of interpretation by which music can be logically realized, quantified and rationalized: such a method is called music theory. Music theory, although still technically an art, could be defined as ‘the science of musical tonality, rhythm and structure.’ Out of these three pillars, however, by-far the most influential and important is tonality. Tonality, according to Mark DeVoto, is, “…the organized relationship of tones with reference to a definite center, the tonic, and generally to a community of pitch classes, called a scale, of which the tonic is the principle tone.” In regards to hearing, tonality is how the ear interprets two or more tones together and is the founding idea behind melody and harmony, dissonance and consonance, tension and resolution. Tonality can further be divided into three sub-categories: polytonality, atonality and pure tonality.
Polytonality is the use of more than one scale system at the same time; in other words, the music is not ‘centered’ on one note. Rather, two or more bases of melody and harmony are established and, normally, seeming mayhem ensues. As you can imagine, polytonal music requires the listener to have an acquired taste.
Atonality, however, is even more chaotic than polytonality. The principle of
Cited: "01 Brahms Violin Concerto, Julia Fischer (Violin) - 1rst Movement ( 1/3 ) - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. . "Brahms Double Concerto/Doppelkonz. Allegro 1/2 - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. . "Brahms string sextet I op18 Bflat II - Andante ma moderato - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. . Devoto, Mark. Harvard Dictionary of Music, “Tonality.” n.p. Print. MacDonald, Malcolm. Brahms. New York: Schirmer Books, 1990. Print. Steen, Michael. The lives and times of the great composers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.